Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 17:39:35 -0700
From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Subject: GLAADAlert 04.18.97
GLAADALERT
April 18, 1997
The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation
contents:
1. GLAADAlert Follow-Up: Alabama Ellen Party Is A Go (ABC-33/40 TV
(Birmingham, AL ABC affiliate)
2. Married...With Children Spoofs Ellenmania With "Lez Be Friends"
(Married...With Children (television sitcom), FOX (television network))
3. Not All My Children Anymore (All My Children (television soap opera),
ABC Daytime (television daytime programming))
4. GLAAD Works With Ad Execs to Rethink Gay Issues (Leo Burnett Media
(advertising agency), McDonald's (restaurant chain))
5. Dave Thomas Won't Serve Ellen at "Weasly" Wendy's (Wendy's (restaurant
chain), JC Penny's (department store chain), Chrysler Corporation
(automobile manufacturer), General Motors Corporation (automobile
manufacturer), Johnson &
Johnson (corporation))
6. Oprah Catches Hell For Being Supportive of Ellen (Oprah Winfrey
(television talk show host))
7. Chasing Amy's Identity (Chasing Amy (film), Miramax (production company))
8. GLAADAlert Update: Hateful Web Name Back Online (Network Solutions/
InterNIC (domain name registration clearinghouse), Cyber Promotions
(internet service))
1. GLAADAlert Follow-Up: Alabama Ellen Party Is A Go
Since the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama refused to air the April 30
episode of Ellen, GLAAD and Birmingham Pride Alabama (BPA) will be holding
the city's "Official Welcome Out Ellen Party," with the history-making
episode being satellite-fed directly to a giant screen at the Boutwell
Auditorium. According to BPA entertainment director Kevin Snow, thousands
of attendees from all over the South will come together to make a stand for
fair, accurate and inclusive representation of lesbians and gay men on
television as well as the freedom for individuals to decide for themselves
how they feel about the program.
In addition to coordinating the media and public relations for the event,
GLAAD will have several representatives on site who will be working
hand-in-hand with local lesbians and gay men to celebrate this
groundbreaking moment in American cultural history.
Please tell ABC 33/40 that their cowardice is denying quality and
precedent-setting programming to local viewers-lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender or otherwise. To attend this exciting community event, tickets
are now on sale for a suggested $5 donation through Ticketline at (800)
277-1700 or (205) 715-6000.
Contact: Jerry Heilman, President and General Manager, ABC-33/40-TV, P.O.
Box 360039, Birmingham, AL 35236, phone: 205.403.3340--enter 7 and then 1,
e-mail: jerryh@abc3340.com; For more information about the "Welcome Out
Ellen Party," contact Alan Klein (GLAAD Communications Director) at
212.807.1700 or the BPA, Prideline: 205.254.9199.
2. Married...With Children Spoofs Ellenmania With "Lez Be Friends"
The April 28 Married...With Children, airing just two days before the big
coming out episode of Ellen, gives its own slant on lesbian coming out when
Marcy's (out actress Amanda Bearse) identical twin cousin Mandy comes to
town. Both Al and Jefferson find themselves attracted to the more laid-back
and sassy
Mandy, while man-hungry Marcy stews with jealousy, because once again her
cousin is getting all the boy attention. But Mandy, as it turns out, is a
lesbian, and comes out to Al, who first tries to identify with her sexual
orientation through his concept of "lesbian" (i.e. the women he sees in
porn movies). When Mandy asks him if he thinks there is anything wrong with
two women being together, he replies, "Not if there's a man watching!"
Eventually, though, he not only accepts Mandy for who she is, but helps
Marcy come to terms with her cousin's sexual orientation. Even Peg takes a
liking to sweet-talking Mandy. In addition, at the very end, another
character on the show comes out as gay.
In its own absurd and crude way, Married...With Children has created an
excellent episode which shows how gay people help to make up our diverse
society, our families and our friends.
Please thank Fox for "Lez Be Friends," and encourage them to bring Mandy
back every once in a while.
Contact: Brett King, Program Director, Fox Broadcasting Company, PO Box
900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, fax: 310.369.1433, e-mail: askfox@foxinc.com.
3. Not All My Children Anymore
In an expected but disappointing move, ABC Daytime is pushing the gay
characters on All My Children-the only ones on daytime soaps-off to the
sidelines. According to numerous sources, including the April 19 TV Guide,
Chris Bruno, who plays openly gay high school teacher Michael Delaney is not
renewing his contract. He will, however, remain a tangential character,
returning at "Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever," according to Bruno.
Meanwhile, Kevin (Ben Jorgensen), Pine Valley's gay teenager, has had very
little plot development and Michael's boyfriend Brad (Daniel McDonald) will
have little or no place without his contract player boyfriend.
Since Bruno is not completely leaving the show, ABC Daytime does not have
to replace the actor with someone else to play the character on a more
regular basis. Both Michael and Brad are left in soap opera limbo, and gay
representation on All My Children is basically on hold. Now, as Kevin
remains as essentially the only gay character left standing on daytime
dramas, it is even more critical that he be given a significant, sensitive
and well-developed storyline over the next few months.
Encourage ABC Daytime to introduce new lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender characters to Pine Valley and all their soap communities and to
give AMC's Kevin a full life and an engaging story.
Contact: ABC Daytime, 77 W. 66th Street, New York, NY 10023-6201, fax:
212.456.2381, e-mail: daytime@ccabc.com.
4. GLAAD Works With Ad Execs to Rethink Gay Issues
This week, GLAAD uncovered an unsettling internal report by Leo Burnett
Media, the advertising agency for McDonald's, about how to position the
fast-food giant's ads in regards to gay television content. The report
stated, among other things, that McDonald's "cannot completely avoid" gay
program content, but "must set parameters to ensure McDonald's continues to
appear in suitable environment." In order to establish these "parameters,"
Leo Burnett questioned whether to pull from "discussion of homosexuality,"
"major gay story lines" and/or "intimate contact between same-sex couples."
The report noted McDonald's has "traditionally avoided homosexual content
when possible," but that it was "becoming more difficult to avoid as it
becomes more commonplace."
GLAAD communicated with Robert Brennan, executive vice president and U.S.
media director for Leo Burnett, about the language used in the report and
the potential divisiveness of the implications of the report. In an April
15 letter from Brennan to GLAAD, he stated that "it is incumbent upon me
to continually encourage our team to demonstrate at all times and in all
communication the sensitivity which we have for all individuals." Further,
he committed to "implementing measures to improve how we discuss gay and
lesbian media, programming and marketing," through "diversity training with
a specific gay and lesbian sensitivity module into our overall media
training" and "when reporting on relevant, timely social issues," to more
closely review documents "to better ensure that any type of analysis is
dealt with appropriately."
Please commend Leo Burnett Media for swiftly addressing GLAAD's concerns
and encourage them to make good on their word. Also, ask McDonald's to
articulate why they have "traditionally avoided" lesbian and gay-inclusive
content in selecting where to advertise.
Contact: Robert C. Brennan, U.S. Media Director, Leo Burnett Media, 35 West
Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601, fax: 312.220.3299; McDonald's, 1 Crock
Drive, Oak Brook, IL 60521.
5. Dave Thomas Won't Serve Ellen at "Weasly" Wendy's
In other fast-food news, Wendy's has announced that while it was never
scheduled to advertise on the April 30 coming out episode of ABC's Ellen,
it has pulled all sponsorship from the show. According to Wendy's
spokesperson Denny Lynch, the move was prompted by the media attention to
title character Ellen Morgan's coming out as a lesbian. In the April 16 USA
Today, Lynch said, "The story content no longer fits our advertising
guidelines, which are primarily to avoid controversial subjects." In the
same article, GLAAD Communications Director Alan Klein called the pullout a
"weasly way of not being inclusive. I think diversity is the bedrock of
American culture, and for corporations to avoid dealing with the fact that
gays and lesbians are part of the rich and diverse culture of America means
they are blinded by their own bigotry." The Wendy's annual meeting will be in
Columbus, Ohio on April 29.
Let Wendy's know that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and
their families and friends eat fast-food, too, and that they will think
twice about supporting a business that refuses to support inclusive TV
programming. In addition, keep letting the other advertisers that pulled
from Ellen know that their intolerance has been noticed and is
unacceptable.
Contact: Wendy's, 4288 W. Dublin Granville Rd., Dublin, OH 43017; Robert J.
Easton, Chairperson, Chrysler Corporation, 1000 Chrysler Drive, Auburn
Hills, MI 48326, phone: 800.992.1997; John F. Smith, Chairperson, General
Motors Corporation, 3044 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202, phone:
313.556.5000, fax: 313.556.1988; Ralph S. Larsen, Chairperson, Johnson &
Johnson, One J & J Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ 09833, phone: 800.635.6789,
fax: 908.214.0332, feedback form on the WWW:
http//www.jnj.com/feedback.html; William Howell, Chair, JC Penney Company,
Inc., PO Box 10001, Dallas, TX 75301, phone: 214.431.1000, fax:
214.431.1977, email: webmaster@jcpenney.com.
6. Oprah Catches Hell For Being Supportive of Ellen
During her April 15 broadcast, talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey reported that
she has received both positive and negative letters since she participated
in
the taping of the April 30 Ellen. On the negative side, two of three
letters she read on camera attacked her for "promoting lesbianism," and
she said that members of her own staff had told her she would go to hell for
her involvement in the history-making episode. An audience member on the
verge of tears also challenged Winfrey's Christian faith because of her
embracing of an openly lesbian title character and Ellen DeGeneres herself
coming out of the closet. However, one letter she read of the "bins" of
letters she received commended her for being so supportive of Ellen, and
Winfrey said that her faith is about loving instead of judging, and many
audience members applauded her and supported her. DeGeneres will appear on
Oprah on April 30.
Reflecting the values of many Americans, Oprah Winfrey's continual
inclusiveness and appreciation for lesbians and gay men is a testament to
the strength of her Christian faith and love.
Please thank Oprah for her support of the Ellen show, DeGeneres and the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Contact: Oprah Winfrey, Oprah, 110 N. Carpenter Road, Chicago, Illinois 60607
7. Chasing Amy's Identity
In the recent limited-release hit Chasing Amy, Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams),
struggles with reconciling her sexual identity and her sexual orientation
when, as a lesbian, she falls in love with her straight friend Holden (Ben
Affleck). In addition to her own exploration of finding a person she loves,
regardless of gender, Holden has to confront his own sexual identity and
views about homosexuality and desire. Holden also has to deal with
Alyssa's sexual past, which includes men and women. In addition, Holden's
best friend, who is homophobic and says terrible things, is the least
sympathetic character in the movie, and is countered at every turn to
correct myths, stereotypes and prejudices he has. At one point, Holden even
suggests that his friend may be a repressed gay man who pines for him.
Alyssa's lesbian friends, while realistic, are also very opposed to her
dating a man and at one point toast her, saying "another one bites the
dust," implying that Alyssa has somehow betrayed her sexual orientation by
crossing genders to find love. Finally, one supporting character, an
African-American, gay man, articulates a complicated sense of race and
sexual orientation as a person of color in the gay community.
Unfortunately, for a movie which is all about moving beyond (and being
confined by) restrictive senses of identity, it never articulates the
possibility that Alyssa could be bisexual, or what it means to be bisexual
both to heterosexuals and lesbians and gay men. Clearly, the movie is in
part about bisexuality, but without ever using the word, it missed an
opportunity to talk about the fluidity of sexuality and the way that
bisexual identity strengthens and facilitates discussion about that
concept.
Please congratulate Miramax for tackling a complicated issue about identity
and realistically portraying each character. Point out, however, that by
ignoring the term "bisexual," Chasing Amy gets trapped in "straight" and
"gay" labels rather than liberating itself from them.
Contact: Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Co-Chairs, Miramax, 7920 Sunset
Blvd., #230, Los Angeles, CA 90046, fax: 213.969.9840, e-mail:
webmaster@miramax.com.
8. GLAADAlert Update: Hateful Web Name Back Online
After being pulled from NetGate Communication's server and being placed on
hold status for two months, the hateful domain name "godhatesfags.com" is
back in cyberspace and is currently housed on servers at Cyber Promotions,
owned and operated by Sanford Wallace. This means only that a Web page
using that domain name will soon be in existence. From the beginning,
GLAAD has
been challenging InterNIC's arbitrary and inconsistent policy toward the
use of hate language in domain names. In February, GLAAD Interactive Media
Director Loren Javier spoke with Sherry Proehl, a representative from
InterNIC, in hopes that she might shed more light on the policy behind
registering a domain name.
Proehl told Javier that InterNIC automatically screens the FCC listing of the
"Seven Dirty Words." Other than those words, she said that InterNIC does
not engage in any political statement and because they register domains
internationally, the company did not want to be responsible for drawing the
line on speech. However, in order to test their policy, a member recently
tried to register "nigger.com," a domain with a hateful and clearly
inappropriate racist epithet. His request was declined by InterNIC, which
stated that "Network Solutions has a right founded in the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution to refuse to register, and thereby publish on the
Internet, registry of domain names [containing] words that it deems to be
inappropriate." When Proehl was asked why this domain name was declined and
not "godhatesfags.com," she replied that it contained one of the "Seven
Dirty Words." However, "nigger" is decidedly not one of the Seven Dirty
Words. So, in light of this new home for the hateful domain, GLAAD
continues to ask why it allows "godhatesfags.com" and for clarity in its
policy.
Please write Cyber Promotions and ask what their policy is in regards to
hate speech on its service.
Contact: David Graves, Internet Business Manager, Network Solutions, 505
Huntmar Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170, fax: 703.742.8449, e-mail:
bmo@netsol.com; Sanford Wallace, Cyber Promotions, e-mail:
domreg@CYBERPROMO.COM.
The GLAADAlert is the weekly activation tool of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation.
GLAAD is the lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national lesbian and
gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate and
inclusive representation as a means of
challenging all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or
identity.
Contact GLAAD by e-mail at glaad@glaad.org or by phone at
213.658.6775 (Los Angeles), 212.807.1700 (New York),
202.986.1360 (Washington, DC) or 415.861.2244 (San Francisco).
Report defamation in the media by calling GLAAD's Toll-Free AlertLine!
1-800-GAY-MEDIA (1-800-429-6334)
Visit GLAAD's Web Site at http://www.glaad.org
"GLAADAlert," "GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are
registered trademarks
of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.
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GLAAD is the nation's lesbian and gay news bureau and the only national
lesbian and gay multimedia watchdog organization. GLAAD promotes fair,
accurate and inclusive representation as a means of challenging
discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.
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"GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered
trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc.